The Night Before Halloween
by Lucy Marigold
Summary: On the night before Halloween, a group of six Mercs travel to an abandoned manor after getting a strange invite. (A Halloween One-shot)


**A/N Ah yes. Halloween. One the few American Holidays I DON'T understand. Anyway, I thought I'd be nice and give you all a new story to bite onto. Happy Halloween all!**

The Night Before Halloween

Lightning flashed across a pitch black sky, rain pelting down against the forlorn manor. Spine-like vines snaked around the dark building, thick thorns adoring every surface. Lighting flashed again, bathing it in a bright and pale light for a split second. A wolf howled in the distance as the shutters of the building rattled in the wind as it wailed like a sorrowful ghost. A small group of figures could be seen walking up the rugged path, mud caking their clothing. One ran towards the house, splattering mud across the wooden deck. Others followed behind him, the wood of the steps creaking under their feet. The first young man held out a shaking finger before pressing the worn doorbell. A haunting tune sounded and the door creaked open. The group of six entered, the door slamming shut behind them and blowing dust upwards. The large entry was covered in dusty cobwebs. An old and fancy table sat in between and at the base of a grand staircase that arched in two ways on either side of the room. Dead flowers sat in an ornate vase on top of the table, beside that was a stack of books and a few silver photo frames. All of them covered in cobwebs and dust. One of the people, whom was wearing a rubber suit and a mask, wandered forward while glancing around at the room. Suddenly a voice spoke, causing the group to become startled and dart backwards. Standing there, in a butler's uniform, was a pale man with preened white hair. When he spoke, his voice sent a chill down most of their spines.

"Master is waiting upstairs for you." He said, his voice monotone and chilly. The group followed the man, unsure of who or what he was. Someone sneezed, sending dust flying. He apologised as the small group continued. Suddenly, the butler opened a door and proceed to shove the entire group inside, shutting and locking the door before they could protest. Two of them pounded on the door, the other four watching in shock. The room was pitch black other than the occasional flash of lighting which showed that the room was mostly empty except for a single chair that was sitting in the centre of the room. A green glow began to emit from the chair and suddenly Merasmus appeared, shouting.

"It is I! Merasmus the Wizard! Kneel before me mortals for I am-" He began but was cut short when one of the six punched him in the throat. He stood there gagging for a few moments as three of the six scrambled to break the door. The group was enveloped with a bright green light and froze in place as they hovered above the ground. "ENOUGH! This year, for Halloween I, Merasmus the Wizard, WON'T be attempting to steal your souls." He yelled, causing the group of six mercenaries to question him.

"It isn't even Halloween yet! That's tomorrow!" The skinniest shouted, squirming around. "And what do you mean you're NOT going to steal our souls?! You try to do that every year!" The others echoed his statements as they squirmed in place. The man in the black dress laughed, his wooden staff waving around as he chuckled.

"I, Merasmus, said that I wouldn't be stealing your souls. But this year I, Merasmus the Wizard, is getting some help from one of my former roommates!" He yelled in reply.

"How are you, in sam hell, going to do that?" Another said, smirking.

"BY KILLING YOU!" The wizard darkly chuckled, highly out of character, before vanishing in another puff of green light. The group tumbled to the ground landing on top of one another. The ground opened up underneath them, plunging the group into darkness as they fell.

"This was a terrible idea! Someone is gonna kill us!" One of them screamed as they fell and bumped into each other.

"It is your fault maggot!" The one who had punched the wizard beforehand shouted, his elbow slamming into someone else.

"Can we stop yelling? Please?" Another one groaned. The wind whipped around them as they fell and fell and fell. Finally, they landed with a thump on the cold and hard ground, knocking the breath out of all of them. When the first one opened his eyes, he discovered that he was completely alone in a stark room, the walls a plain grey.

"Okay. This is freaky." He whispered, getting up and pulling his fallen hat back on. "Py? Solly? Doc? Engie? Snipes? Anybody?" He called out, it echoing around him. There wasn't a door in sight nor any windows. His shoes made a sound as he walked around the enclosed room. He sat down and crossed his legs on the wooden floor and sighed. He was going to be here a while. Meanwhile, a large shadow trailed after a pair of people. One of them, the person wearing the gas mask, stopped and looked out a window, cobwebs stretched across it making a large shadow on the hallway wall behind them when the lightning flashed.

"Mmpf.. mmph mmu?" They asked, pointing at a small spider that was spinning her web on the window with care.

"Py, now isn't the time for lookin' at spiders. We've got to find the others, ya'll know that." The man said, placing a hand on his hip. The person sighed, following behind the other as they walked down the hallway. The masked person squealed in fear as something behind them grabbed them by the leg, dragging them backwards. The man whipped around, a look of fear on his face as his friend was taken into the darkness leaving him alone.

A lanky man chased after a figure, it's small and petite body that of a child's. He skidded around the corner, watching as the figure ran with light footsteps. Lighting flashed, bathing the ghostly figure in white. The figure was a small girl, a light blue summer dress was draped over her skeletal body. Pale blonde hair fluttered around her as she giggled. The hallway was then plunged into darkness again. The girl laughed and glowed a pale white as she continued to run away, one of her arms trailing behind in a mystic manner. "Come back!" He shouted, running as fast as he could after her. The man was inches away from gripping onto the child. When he moved forward to grab her, his fingers passed through her wrist like mist. The girl froze in place and slowly turned around to look at the man. Her face was contorted and horrifying, the man screamed in shock as the child moved forward with claw-like hands and grabbed him by the neck. He attempted to break free but was dragged by her god-like strength into the darkness as drops of blood trickled to the ground, his hat lying abandoned on the ground.

The young man paced around the grey room, nothing changing around him. He punched the wall with a balled up fist until a loud rumble was heard. The walls around him began to move and close in on themselves, trapping the young man inside. He shouted, yelled, screamed and cried as the walls became closer and closer. With one final attempt, he tried to climb upwards. He slipped back down, his attempt futile. "I'm sorry that I was a bad person, Ma." He whispered before he was squashed like a bug between the grey walls, turning them a deep crimson and splattering his guts across the small space before they too were turned into a red pulp by the moving walls.

The last pair of the group of six walked down another dingy hallway, windows looking out to a supposed garden and the hallway lined with old oil paintings. At the end of the hallway was another dusty staircase. They both walked up the stairs and were greeted by a large door. A copper plague was on the door, the words 'Master Bedroom' was engraved into it. One of the men, a man with a lab coat and round spectacles, opened the old door. Inside was a grand bed, it draped with red silks and linen. The curtains were drawn over the window on the far side of the room. Embellished furniture decorated the room. Hovering above the bed was a man that was covered in dark clothing, his pale arms crossed across his chest. The man suddenly opened his eyes which had a crimson, snake-like slit. He looked over at the pair and a chilly blast of wind blew the door behind them closed, trapping the pair inside. Shadows crept around the man as he silently judged them. The odd man smiled, revealing sharp, white and fang-like teeth. The man with the spectacles was flung up in the air, shadows enveloping him as he was pinning to the roof. "Herr Soldier! Run!" He shouted before a shadow that was shaped like a large spear pierced his chest. He died, his mouth agape before his spectacles slowly slipped off his nose and fell to the ground, cracking the lens.

"Medic!" The other man shouted, watching his friend die."Come here cupcake! That was my favourite Nazi you just killed!" He tackled the other man, punching him in the face as hard as he could. The man began to laugh as he was pinned to the ground. He got up and slammed the surviving man into the ground, his helmet he wore tumbling off. He screamed as the strange man bared his fangs and bit into the squirming person. The chilling screams echoed down the hall before they finally stopped.

The last surviving person ran through the dark hallways, dodging the large creature that was chasing after him. The old Texan turned the corner, bumping into another ornate vase. He landed with a thump on the ground, the vase having tripped him. He watched as the creature walked forward, lighting flashing showing its distorted features. It looked like a large crab, hair sticking out of places in a horrific manner. The hallway was plunged into darkness a second later. He watched helplessly as the creature picked him up by his leg, carrying him upside down through the grim hallway. It dragged him down until it opened a door and threw the man into the bright room. The man looked up with surprise after recovering from being thrown. The walls were coloured red and the floor under him had marks showing that the walls had been in the centre at one point. Torn and stained clothing was on the floor, a loose shoe lying beside the pile of clothes. "Good Irene.." He whispered, glancing around at the rest of the room. "Pyro?! Sniper?! That you?" He shouted when he spotted two of his friends laying in the corner. He scrambled over to them. He turned them over and held back the bile that was coming up. The first was missing their signature gasmask, revealing that they were truly male. Horrid burn marks littered the man's face. Looking downwards, there was a large gaping hole in the man's chest, large insects digging in and out of his chest. They were green and white with a maggot-like appearance that was mixed with the pincers of beetle. The other was worse. Claw marks littered the man's body, cut so deep you could see the organs, muscle and bone beneath. His eyes were ripped out and he was missing one of his hands. The smell was overwhelming. The surviving man backed away in shock before he vomited on the bloody floor. He ran as fast as he could out of the room, dodging furniture as he went. He rushed down the grand staircase and stopped by the front door. Merasmus appeared behind him in a puff of green smoke this time.

"Where are you going, mortal?" He asked, acting as if he didn't know that everyone else was dead. The man turned around in a fury of hate.

"How dare you! You son of a bitch! You killed them all!" He swore, pulling out a wrench and holding it with both hands in a threatening manner.

"I, Merasmus, didn't do it. My vampiric friend did." Merasmus chuckled. The surviving man was suddenly enveloped in shadows and when the shadows cleared, another man was behind him, gripping with claw-like fingers into his arms which were locked behind his back. The wrench he was holding cluttered to the ground and landed with a dusty thump.

"Merasmus, this a step too far!" He shouted, squirming from the death grip, causing the man behind him to tighten his grip more.

"Oh stop squirming, mortal!" The man hissed, fangs bared. He wrestled with effort, kicking the man in the shins repeatedly. The man's grip didn't falter.

"Alessandro, kill him. Otherwise, turn him like you did the other one because this is getting boring, even for I, Merasmus, has standards." Merasmus said, clearing becoming bored by the mild struggle. The man now known as Alessandro tossed the other man onto the floor with surprising strength, winding him when he landed on the ground and he slammed into the fancy table with a sicking crack as he broke his arm. Alessandro then stalked forward, baring his fanged teeth. With sharp claws, He pinned the broken man against the table by his torn shirt.

"This is outta character for you, Merasmus.." The man said, staring at the wizard. Alessandro smiled as Merasmus laughed in the distance. His laugh turned into a dark chuckle. The vampire bared his fangs once more before biting down on the man's neck, a trickle of blood dripping down his exposed neck. The man screamed in pain as he was forced to stare up at the ceiling. Lighting flashed once last time, bathing the room in a ghostly light as the final man died, leaving a drained corpse. The pair of immortal men began to chuckle and laugh darkly as more lightning flashed and the body began to twitch. "Happy Halloween." Another voice spoke as a pair of crimson eyes shone through the darkness.


End file.
